


Little (Big) Misunderstandings

by miloron (ocoa)



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmates AU, background: cloudniel, first words + first touch, literally every pair except of BaekZu is slowburn wtf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-01 11:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20814572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ocoa/pseuds/miloron
Summary: his soulmates first words to him are "you're hideous"





	Little (Big) Misunderstandings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... comeback's in a few days :) That's fun :) They're gonna kill us but :) that's all g

There comes a time in every child’s life that they are bestowed a precious gift from God, or so the story goes. At age 12, no matter who or where you were, when midnight hits the country you were born in, your skin would start burning, and like a fiery blessing (used very, very loosely) you would be engraved with the first words your soulmate says, pigmentation affected by the strength of intention. 

Minhyun, at age 12, is blessed (again, used very loosely) with the words “you’re hideous” on the edge of his shoulder, the grey words smudging away in nothing, as if it was said lightly. He hates it, hates the way it grows with him, hates the way he has to stare at it in the mirror and starts to believe it. He hates how it makes him feel when he sees his sister’s**_ “**Excuse** me, I really like your coat_**” and her soulmate’s_** “oh thank you”**_. The words on her hands (wrist printed dark black with intention) makes something in his chest twist and pull. Once upon a time he wanted that, imagined a Someone who would look at him with as much fondness as he would them. 12 years old is too young for someone to stop dreaming.

He’s bitter. He knows he is, which is why he tempers it away with a pleasant smile because he believes that just because his life sucks doesn’t mean that he should ruin anyone else’s. His mother smiles at him proudly at that, a good change from the worried looks and the jumping away from the words “soul” and “mark”. He learns to ask, ask about the time his parents met (when they both went swing dancing and they just so happened to become each other’s partners), about how the marks work (they called it divine power, because nothing else could explain how one would stumble into the prediction), about whether there was a happy ending for people who don’t stay with their soulmate (his mother looks at him sadly, she doesn’t know, it’s the first time she doesn’t know). 

As Minhyun grows his anger fades, but he doesn’t think he could ever look at his soulmate with the same eyes his sister gives hers, or his parents send each other. He thinks he has his friends to thank. Jonghyun (**_I don’t think I’ve met someone like you before_**) and Dongho (**_**hey** do you have a spare pencil_**) never rib him about soulmates, even when he knows they’re curious about why he always wears an undershirt. They just don’t talk about it, until Minhyun finds himself ready to.

Age 16, he finds out how scary Jonghyun can be when he’s angry. Sometimes it’s hard to remember when he’s usually so…_Jonghyun_. For once Dongho’s the one egging him on, which isn’t helping because usually Dongho’s the one who can quell Jonghyun’s testiness. It’s sweet to know how treasured he is, when the two pacifists swear up and down that they would burn his soulmate when they meet him. He’s happy, he thinks, starts to wonder if he can answer his own question from years ago. The universe has a way of making people meet, he knows, but who ever said he had to stay?

Age 19, he realises what love might be like when he meets Daniel (_**hey **_**_you’re Daniel right?_**). Daniel never does find out about his feelings, at least not before the younger meets his soulmate. He can’t bring himself to not like Sungwoon (**_…er, yeah?_**), not when the two of them exude happiness. He doesn’t allow himself to be jealous, but for all that this thing in his chest makes him feel, heartbreak was a part of love. They’re all close at the end of it, and Sungwoon tells him about his university in Seoul and the choir they have there. “You could join my dorm,” he says, “Hyung’ll take care of you.” His chest puffs with pride, even when Daniel makes another joke about his height.

“I’ll think about it, Hyung.”

Age 20, he moves into Sungwoon’s dorm in Seoul.

His roommate is a first year like him, who asks him what his skincare regime is. Minki (**yeah I’m not usually the partying type**) says his skin was good, which was a lot more flattering than Minhyun expected since Minki’s skin actually glowed. But then he thinks of lightly said words and a weight settles in his stomach. 

“Minhyun?”

He glances up, realises he’s shaking, and forces his hands still. “Yeah?”

“…Nothing, I was just wondering how long you were going to stare at yourself.”

“Hmm, how about a couple more hours?”

He ducks the pillow thrown at him with a sharp grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this is gonna be a long one. I have 4 more chapters already written out but the last one just added two arcs I need to keep track of so let's see how much I'll have to c r y and churn something out. I hope you liked it. End game is in the tags, it's just gonna take forever to get there and probably a lot of heartbreak.


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